Invited Lectures

1. Towards a Value Framework for Precision Medicine: Recommendations from the ISPOR precision medicine special interest group (12 November 2018)
   This panel debated the need and feasibility of developing a novel value framework for precision medicine in the context of other value frameworks in development. Maarten IJzerman opened the discussion with an overview of need for a precision medicine value framework development from an HTA perspective, with examples from Europe and North America. Diana Brixner discussed the challenge of defining the space and characterizing the range of included technology applications from a value demonstration perspective. Anke-Peggy Holtorf discussed the extent to which health stakeholder perspectives on precision medicine are represented in current value assessment processes, debating the feasibility of separately covering precision medicine versus simply leveraging our existing processes. Eric Faulkner discussed the specific areas that a novel precision medicine must cover and discuss recommendations for next steps.
2. Challenges with the Health Economic Assessment of Immunotherapy in NSCLC (15 October 2018)
   With the recent Nobel prizes for Cancer Immunotherapy, it is clear that immunotherapy has created a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. Lung cancer is a common cancer with low historical survival rates. While advancements in all disciplines have accelerated in the last decade, the focus on immunotherapies for lung cancer is still relatively new, and yet the potential for positive patient outcomes is significant.
   
   This foundational symposium provided an overview of immunotherapy. Assess the current state, learn how immunotherapies fit with other existing standard and targeted therapies and explore their use in clinical practice including managing complications. In this symposium, Maarten IJzerman discussed the health economic implications of cancer immunotherapy in lung cancer.
3. Improving the Delivery of Value-Based Cancer Services (19 September 2018)
   At a time when a third of worldwide spending on cancer is on drug treatments, clinicians are increasingly drawing on whole genome sequencing and liquid biopsies to assess which patients are likely to respond to a given treatment. Treatment decisions often involve difficult trade-offs, and the quality of these decisions depends on sophisticated data mining from cancer registries and other data sets. Governments and service providers also need these insights to ensure maximum benefit from health spending across the cancer and survivorship continuum. Professor Maarten IJzerman, the inaugural VCCC Chair of Cancer Health Services Research at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH), explored these issues at a joint VCCC-MSPGH seminar.
4. HSR-AANZ webinar on the use of Real-World Data for Cancer HSR (5 September 2018)
   This webinar was held for the Australian Health Services Research community and discusses the opportunities and challenges for health systems to adopt personalised medicine. Traditionally, Health Technology Assessment has made a significant contribution in rationalising healthcare spending, but HTA methods are less capable of evaluating health systems and inefficiencies in the healthcare delivery system. Global efforts are therefore made towards improving the delivery of cancer services using real-world data and real-world evidence. The webinar can be accessed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLO_zWyDOaU
5. Health Economic Implications of Liquid Biopsies in Cancer Management (12 June 2018)
   Precision medicine applications offer the promise of improved risk assessment, earlier diagnosis and tailored treatment and survivorship care for cancer patients. However, despite significant investments and breakthroughs in genomics and precision medicine, successful translation into health services for the benefit of patients remains challenging. This presentation will examine challenges in Health Technology Assessment of precision medicine applications in oncology, and discusses the potential of liquid biopsies for improving cancer management. The presentation was held at the Precision Medicine Forum in Utrecht (the Netherlands) on 12 June 2018. Precision Medicine Forum